Going Back to School (Gifted and Talented Classes)

Earlier in the school year, I was approached to be on my school's High Ability team. I wasn't too interested at the time, but I'm always looking to add to my resume, so I decided to join. There are 4 of us on the team. In March, I was presented with the opportunity to go back to school and get my license in High Ability education. And it would be completely paid for by my school. Tuition, books, everything. How could I say no to free education?

I was nervous (and still not totally interested) but I said yes, applied to Ball State University, and was accepted into their graduate program. I then found out that my school is restructuring into multi-age classrooms (K-2 and 3-5) and that I would be teaching the High Ability K-2 class. Suddenly, I was so glad I was going to be taking these classes because I was stepping into a whole new territory. 

I'm officially 2 weeks into my classes, and I have to say, Gifted and Talented education is SO interesting! I'm learning that these students are the exact opposite side of the spectrum of Special Education students, in that they need special instruction, and often have social/emotional issues. The bad thing is, that while special education gets a lot of federal and state funding (and they should), gifted students get no federal funding, and very little from the state. Everyone just assumes that these students will be fine, "because they're smart." But that's not always the case. 10% of high school dropout are gifted. 44% of students who had been identified as gifted in 1st grade are no longer gifted by 5th grade. Because we're not doing anything for them. These students have needs that are not being met in their general education classes. If we ignore their needs, they end up underachieving. Think of what we're robbing our world of. These students are the one who become the great doctors, lawyers, business giants, and researchers. If we don't give them what they need in school, we could be denying the world of some great innovators.

Clearly, you can tell I'm becoming passionate about this topic that I didn't give two hoots about a few months ago. Anyway, I'm knee deep in research papers and projects:

But I'm finding this "new normal" of coming home, changing into comfy clothes, and doing school work is sort of fun. I love learning new things, and since this is so relevant to what I'm going to be doing next year, it's really holding my interests. I'm taking two classes this summer and two classes next summer. Then I'll be able to get my license. After that I could see myself wanting to begin work for my Masters. We'll see!

Kinder Caterpillar Update: The Final Chapter

This has been one heck of an experience as far as I'm concerned. Let's recap the last 2 weeks of this fun project.

Once all of the caterpillars had entered the chrysalis, I carefully pinned them all into the butterfly pavilion. They were in there about 7 days before the first two emerged while I was out of town and had a sub.

 I was aware that there might be a little blood, but I was not prepared for just how much. After the weekend, we had about 8 butterflies and a decent amount of blood. My students were concerned, so I explained it to them in terms of a scab. 

Me: What happens when you pick a scab?

Students: We bleed.

Me: But you're okay, right?

Students: Yeah.

Me: Exactly. The chrysalis was like a big scab. When the butterflies came out, it was like picking that big scab off. There was some blood, but they're okay!

I put a sponge soaked in sugar water down at the bottom of the pavilion for them to drink from. A couple days later, I decided to put an orange in there as well. They liked the orange a lot better!

They lived in the pavilion for a week. I kept it on my desk and the students loved coming over to check on them and watch them.  Once I noticed the butterflies beginning to mate, I knew it was time to set them free. So we decided to go outside yesterday afternoon (we had to make sure it was warm enough) and said goodbye.

I wish I could share more pictures and videos. A few of the butterflies landed on the kids and it was so cute! We had talked about how the butterflies may want to stop and say thanks for taking such good care of them before flying off, so the kids did a great job of being calm and not freaking out.

This was by far one of the best experiences of my teaching career so far. If you've never done something like this, I highly suggest it. I plan to do this or something similar again in the future. My students got so much out of this project. Authentic learning experiences like this one are the things that kids remember when they think back on their education. My students will never remember the creative math lessons I taught, but I think they'll always remember raising a caterpillar and watching it turn into a butterfly. I'm so glad I got to share this experience with these amazing sweeties!

Kinder Caterpillar Update #1

I'm happy to announce that ALL of our caterpillars are still alive! (A small miracle in a class of 20 little kids!)

The little guys have been eating constantly and have grown considerably. After the weekend, my students were surprised to see that they'd nearly doubled in size, and that they had pooped all over the place. At first they thought the caterpillars were having babies, but once I educated them as to what those "babies" really were, they were super excited to write about caterpillar poop in their observation journals!

We've been noticing some some big changes in the last 24 hours. Here is what most of our little friends currently look like:

They've been hanging out at the top of their cups, looking for a spot to attach so they can begin to make their chrysalis.

Once they attach, they hang upside down in a "J shape." When I arrived at school this morning, my caterpillar and one of my girls' had assumed the position!

I checked on mine right before recess and it was still hanging out in that "J shape." But 25 minutes later when we came back in...

My caterpillar, Pookie, had made himself a chrysalis! 

I quickly pulled all my students over to my desk and showed them. I wish I could have captured the looks on their faces! Immediately followed by, "Why did he do it when we were gone?" 

Teacher confession: I told them that he chose to do it during recess because it was silent in the room. I said that the quieter they are, the quicker their caterpillars will change, because they need peace and quiet to be able to think. It's nearing the end of the year...I need all the help I can get, ok? 

I'm hopeful that we'll get to catch one in action in the next couple days, because I'd love for them to be able to see it happen. In case it doesn't, I found this great video on YouTube of a young boy narrating the life cycle of his caterpillars, which happen to be from the same company. I'll link the video below. My kids LOVED it yesterday, and even asked to watch it again today. I highly suggest showing it to students. After seeing it, they know exactly what to be on the lookout for!

Butterfly Life Cycle Video

Stay tuned for the next update!